H1Z1: King of the Kill is getting a big update from developer Daybreak, who have now revealed just what will be changing in the popular Steam title.

A new H1Z1: King of the Kill update is set to be launched on the test servers in early May, which looks to make some big improvements.

The Steam title remains one of Daybreak’s most popular games and may explain why they’re focusing less on gameplay and more quality-of-life improvements in this round of tweaks.

Daybreak are looking to make hit registration, the shotgun, new POIs, updated inventory UI, and skirmishes better through their latest patch.

The shotgun is now set to fire a pattern of 17 pellets, which should also complement the changes being made to the hit registration code.

Other improvements include new vehicles skins being launched for the ATV, the Off-Roader, and the Pick-Up Truck, while Daybreak have also confirmed that Skirmishes will return to the weekends as part of the new update.

This is all happening during a very busy time for the game, with H1Z1 making the all-time top 10 list for peak number of players on Steam last weekend.

Daybreak also revealed what would be improved next, confirming that ranked team games and overall gunplay and gameplay balance will be part of the next big Steam update.

A thorough breakdown from Daybreak on the new King of the Kill changes can be found below:

Hit Registration: “This update includes the release of improved and optimised hit registration code. This was a multi-step process that started with a large server revamp to improve server performance and distribution. Then, we rolled out region locking to get a more consistent experience and allow us to focus on specific tuning. The final step was to improve the actual hit registration code. Overall consistency will be much better once this rolls out.

“If you are familiar with some of the network analysis videos that were done, there was a topic referred to as “lag compensation” analyzed in a variety of game titles. We have greatly optimized this now, which means more consistency in terms of player movement and less positional desyncs.

“We also increased the fidelity in which projectiles are tracked to improve consistency with shots hitting opponents. These changes make it less likely for you to accidentally shoot the driver in your car if you are firing from the passenger seat.”

Shotgun: “After refining hit registration, we reviewed the shotgun’s role and design to address its inconsistency: why does it take two shots to kill in some situations versus one shot to kill in a similar situation in a different match?

“To fix this, we made a series of changes to the weapon, including reprogramming its firing pattern. A large problem in the current shotgun is that it fires a random pattern of eight pellets. While we had tuned the spread and damage previously, we were still seeing too much inconsistency due to the random spread patterns.

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“Sometimes, three pellets may hit your target, but you could fire again with no other changes to the game condition and have five pellets hit your target. This inconsistency makes a difference in a high-stakes close gunfight, so we needed to find a way to remove the randomness.

“The new and improved shotgun now fires a systematic pattern of 17 pellets.”

Skirmishes: “Skirmishes will be making a triumphant return to the game. For those of you that are new, Skirmishes are alternate ruleset matches that run on weekends to provide variety to the game.

“These will rotate on a regular basis and modifications to the rulesets range from limiting weapon types to changing loot to even altering how safe zones work.”

UI: “We’ve implemented a series of UI changes to improve access and understanding, including revisions to the inventory and crafting screens and to the crate pages.

“Now, all of your crates (locked and unlocked) will be combined into one view, which will make it easier to know what items are available to you.

“We see players want to quickly manage their inventory and craft needed supplies, so we decided to combine inventory and crafting onto one screen in an effort to accentuate the pace of play. Let us know what you think of this combined screen - our goal is to help improve overall gameplay speed.”